Have you ever really gone for it in your resignation letter? I’ve finally landed a job as part of my career change just a month or so after getting qualified so I’m feeling pretty chuffed with myself.
The job that I am leaving has damaged me quite significantly so every ounce of my fibre wants to let rip in the letter and copy the world in.

I of course won’t, keep it professional and don’t burn bridges blah blah blah, but one of you must have had a proper flouncey resignation in the past?

Not a resignation letter, but a final ‘goodbye’ email sent to ‘distribution-all’ on his final day. Was years ago so I don’t remember the exact text, but the guy left no gripe unaddressed, or how much he had hated working for the company and was escorted off the premises within 2 mins of clicking ‘send’.

‘Distribution-all’ was then put on restricted use…

Yep

Did it help me nope.

I’d be more inclined as I’m older and wiser just not to bother or nail your boss to the wall in the exit interview

Not in a letter, no.

Once when I was younger was quite frank in a leaving interview with a pretty rubbish boss – over bearing, micro managing type. I almost made her cry by the end.

Looking back on it, it’s one of my few life regrets. She was just out of he depth and trying her best but flailing in her role.

I should of just said “Best of luck with your future” and moved on.

Not in the letter, but I did have a frank conversation with my manager after. None of it came as a surprise to him to be honest, and my issues were not with him but with the company.

I’ve always intended to use the below when i next leave a job….

Thought since im off for the last time id send a little note out to say goodbye!

Ive met a lot of absolutley beautiful people here, who have treated me with kindness and respect who have laughed with me , cried with me and have lead me astray and gotten me into some very drunken states!
There are also a handful of very special people who go out of thier way to make others smile even if they dont really know them at all.

These people shine brightest of all and will always be my friends you know who you are

I wish you all well for the future, may you have lots of love, happiness, good wine and sunshine!

Ive also met some mean spirited people who go out of their way to make other people feel bad so they can feel good about themselves!
People who will stab you in the back without a second thought, who attack those who are too good and kind to deserve it and are too cowardly to stand up and admit what they have done.

I hope karma bites them in the bum big style! (they also know who they are)

Karma is only a bitch if you are!

If you CANT be good DONT get Caught

Not in a letter no, but i did have a stand up argument with my then manager, where i just lost it and told him everything i thought of him and why, giving fairly in depth examples of why and how he he had pushed me to my limit.

Stormed out the building calling him a naughty word that starts with C and never returned again.
Got phoned by HR a few days later, where i re-iterated exactly why he was the worst boss to work for and left it at that.

Did it help? not at all, they refused to give me a reference. Did it make me feel better? Yes

Done wrong you will just come over as bitter and twisted. Someone did this in his retirement speech. Rather than just saying thanks and leaving he went into a rant. Some of his points were valid but people just remember him now by his leaving speech and coming across as a bit of a cock.

In workplace dilemmas like this, it’s always useful to ask yourself “what would David Brent do?”

I’ve been very honest in exit interviews.

Who’s your intended audience though? Would anyone care?

A mate of mine left an (overly) honest exit letter with his employer a few years ago. He then applied for a job at my company. Sailed through all the interviews with top marks until the hiring manager got in touch with the previous employer. Took him out the running immediately. Sometimes things are best left unsaid.

There is little to achieve in this. The fact you leave says it all. If they ask why – saying something like, I dont see where this comapny is going. That cuts much harder than a rant as once you start ranting you are just labelled a nutter.

‘Distribution-all’ was then put on restricted use…

No company who places value on its email system should have a ‘Distribution-all’ option available to all and sundry.

I have had fun drafting a few that I would like to send, but I was never going to go out in a blaze of glory.

4 more weeks and I’m out of there, wohooooo!

Write a full force letter, leaving no stone unscathed….then burn it.

There is much more to be lost than gained in writing down and sending what can only be viewed as an unprofessional attack.

At one former place of work we had a tradition of writing very nice leaving emails that read very differently if you read only the first letter of every line. The skill was in making it read naturally to everyone not in the know.

The idea came from a shoe advert – sadly I can’t find the original.

In letter, no. In exit interview, absolutely yes.

The best I heard of was a guy who sent a spreadsheet to all of the office that has a column of numbers followed by a short comment next to it such as “idiot, wouldn’t trust him to sit the right way on a toilet” or “fine salesman, but the worst person I’ve ever met”. The body of the email was the words “can you guess who is each number?”

I once did this:

“It is with great pleasure that I resign with immediate effect”

I thought that was pretty mild. The HR woman went mental.

OP, I think a couple of bottles of red would aid the drafting, with at least four fingers of scotch before making the decision to send or not.

Just left a job, I got enough pleasure from correcting the director that my notice period was 4 weeks rather than the 3 months she imagined. Heh.

My dad was a depute rector at a high school. Head of geography leaving speech was a shining example of pettiness and plain nastiness. He took great delight in belittling lots of people then just walking out.

He really should have picked up his stuff before being such a dick. My father took great delight in having the janitors escort him from the premises (the janitorial staff also came in for his wrath).

OP, I think a couple of bottles of red would aid the drafting, with at least four fingers of scotch before making the decision to send or not.

I haven’t drunk for over 2 years, that could get interesting. 😈

I got enough pleasure from correcting the director that my notice period was 4 weeks rather than the 3 months she imagined.

Oof! That’s a bit of a blunder on her behalf.

My department manager did a send to all, he became a director at BG group so either it didn’t do him any harm or it was all true. It was all true.

A few good retirement speaches too.

One colleague e-mailed the CEO with a “I took this job on the basis of training and career progression, but me and my entire cohort have been stuck in our positions for years now, there’s never been a training budget, outplacement, or a pay rise, and we’re fed up.” That did not go well, but again was true. He had new job lined up though so could then give his notice in when he got called into a meeting for it.

Very tempting but I refrained for reasons mentioned above.. It’s only gonna look bad on you.

My exit interview was a fishing exercise an I simply said I was resigning ‘due to a large amount of contributing factors that have cumulated in my decision’ and refused to get drawn in to elaborate anything… The horse had already bolted by that point so there’s little value in having a rant at that point… God knows I’ve had a few rants prior to my decision to resign. Mostly ignored or I got made out to be the bad guy for having the audacity to flag serious operational issues up.

Life is too short, a 2 liner speaks more volume

Dear boss.
I’m handing in my notice.
my last day will be X. Kind regards

That’s all you need.

The new scheduled send on slack is your friend.
Perhaps.
As a contractor, I flip jobs more than most. I have a golden rule of NEVER burning bridges. You never know what’s around the corner and I earned the nickname of boomerang boy at one client 🤦‍♂️😀

Excolleague at my company couldn’t handle working with her boss any more, she quit and went to work for smaller competitor. Six months later, my company bought her company and she ended up being assigned right back to the same manager. if she had burned bridges on the way out, she definitely wouldn’t have survived the round of “consolidation” that took place…

Depends. I wouldn’t but I can see some might gain some satisfaction. What do you really want to get out of it though; enable the company to improve or just is it your benefit?

A point I’d like to make as a Departmental Manager type.

We had an employee who just wasn’t suited to the role and the company, and had a bit of a personality clash with their immediate manager.

They gave no real useful feedback in periodic discussions that they had with them or me, and in the end they agreed we should part company.

At the HR exit interview they made all sorts of allegations, effectively alleging bullying against the line manager, and that both the LM and me were only paying lipservice to H&S in the work they did. I accept nobody is perfect and always welcome actionable feedback, but the way they made these allegations have caused both HR and H&S investigations to be opened that have caused a huge amount of stress, and a significant amount of extra work for me in now managing the situation with the LM.

What outcome would you be looking for from your ‘all barrels’ resignation or exit interview?

As I mentioned I was never going to go down in a ball of flames, I had fun writing a few that I’d like to send though.

I don’t want to burn my bridges as I can see me going back one day in a very different capacity, but nowhere near my current boss as he’s a proper knobber.

Dear boss.
I’m handing in my notice.
my last day will be X. Kind regards

That’s all you need.

I ended up writing a gushing side of A4 😂

When I left my last roll

Country management gave me a royal hard time for having the audacity to leave.

my last week in the role I did an HSE audit on the motorpool (ex pat community) on transport safety week.

Was more satisfactory than writing a letter that would fall on deaf ears.

Went to the top of the tree and had the unexpected bonus of getting thanks and such like from the top brass for highlighting the short comings.

I’m still here. . That brand of Country management ain’t AND many more folk continue to benifit from the safety observations I made

The only place I’ve worked at for any length of time where things got so bad that I might have been tempted, I was ‘let go’ and escorted off the premises with my few personal bits and pieces in a box, so I was saved the effort. It was also a huge relief and a big weight off my shoulders.
It led to the last five years doing jobs that I’ve really enjoyed and working with a great bunch of people who couldn’t have been nicer during a period of my life that’s been very dark and deeply upsetting, for which I couldn’t be more thankful.